Clive cusslers dark vect.., p.1
Clive Cussler's Dark Vector, page 1
TITLES BY CLIVE CUSSLER
DIRK PITT ADVENTURES®
Clive Cussler’s The Devil’s Sea (by Dirk Cussler)
Celtic Empire (with Dirk Cussler)
Odessa Sea (with Dirk Cussler)
Havana Storm (with Dirk Cussler)
Poseidon’s Arrow (with Dirk Cussler)
Crescent Dawn (with Dirk Cussler)
Arctic Drift (with Dirk Cussler)
Treasure of Khan (with Dirk Cussler)
Black Wind (with Dirk Cussler)
Trojan Odyssey
Valhalla Rising
Atlantis Found
Flood Tide
Shock Wave
Inca Gold
Sahara
Dragon
Treasure
Cyclops
Deep Six
Pacific Vortex!
Night Probe!
Vixen 03
Raise the Titanic!
Iceberg
The Mediterranean Caper
SAM AND REMI FARGO ADVENTURES®
The Wrath of Poseidon (with Robin Burcell)
The Oracle (with Robin Burcell)
The Gray Ghost (with Robin Burcell)
The Romanov Ransom (with Robin Burcell)
Pirate (with Robin Burcell)
The Solomon Curse (with Russell Blake)
The Eye of Heaven (with Russell Blake)
The Mayan Secrets (with Thomas Perry)
The Tombs (with Thomas Perry)
The Kingdom (with Grant Blackwood)
Lost Empire (with Grant Blackwood)
Spartan Gold (with Grant Blackwood)
ISAAC BELL ADVENTURES®
The Saboteurs (with Jack Du Brul)
The Titanic Secret (with Jack Du Brul)
The Cutthroat (with Justin Scott)
The Gangster (with Justin Scott)
The Assassin (with Justin Scott)
The Bootlegger (with Justin Scott)
The Striker (with Justin Scott)
The Thief (with Justin Scott)
The Race (with Justin Scott)
The Spy (with Justin Scott)
The Wrecker (with Justin Scott)
The Chase
KURT AUSTIN ADVENTURES®
Novels from the NUMA Files®
Clive Cussler’s Dark Vector (with Graham Brown)
Fast Ice (with Graham Brown)
Journey of the Pharaohs (with Graham Brown)
Sea of Greed (with Graham Brown)
The Rising Sea (with Graham Brown)
Nighthawk (with Graham Brown)
The Pharaoh’s Secret (with Graham Brown)
Ghost Ship (with Graham Brown)
Zero Hour (with Graham Brown)
The Storm (with Graham Brown)
Devil’s Gate (with Graham Brown)
Medusa (with Paul Kemprecos)
The Navigator (with Paul Kemprecos)
Polar Shift (with Paul Kemprecos)
Lost City (with Paul Kemprecos)
White Death (with Paul Kemprecos)
Fire Ice (with Paul Kemprecos)
Blue Gold (with Paul Kemprecos)
Serpent (with Paul Kemprecos)
OREGON FILES®
Marauder (with Boyd Morrison)
Final Option (with Boyd Morrison)
Shadow Tyrants (with Boyd Morrison)
Typhoon Fury (with Boyd Morrison)
The Emperor’s Revenge (with Boyd Morrison)
Piranha (with Boyd Morrison)
Mirage (with Jack Du Brul)
The Jungle (with Jack Du Brul)
The Silent Sea (with Jack Du Brul)
Corsair (with Jack Du Brul)
Plague Ship (with Jack Du Brul)
Skeleton Coast (with Jack Du Brul)
Dark Watch (with Jack Du Brul)
Sacred Stone (with Craig Dirgo)
Golden Buddha (with Craig Dirgo)
NONFICTION
Built for Adventure: The Classic Automobiles of Clive Cussler and Dirk Pitt
Built to Thrill: More Classic Automobiles from Clive Cussler and Dirk Pitt
The Sea Hunters (with Craig Dirgo)
The Sea Hunters II (with Craig Dirgo)
Clive Cussler and Dirk Pitt Revealed (with Craig Dirgo)
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The Adventures of Vin Fiz
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G. P. Putnam’s Sons
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Copyright © 2022 by Sandecker, RLLLP
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Library of Congress Control Number: 2022934611
Hardcover ISBN: 9780593419670
Ebook ISBN: 9780593419687
Cover illustration: Mike Heath
Book design by Nancy Resnick, adapted for ebook by Maggie Hunt
Title page image by Yasemin Yurtman Candemir / Shutterstock.com
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
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CONTENTS
Cover
Titles by Clive Cussler
Title Page
Copyright
Cast of Characters
Prologue: The Crimson Flag
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Chapter 52
Chapter 53
Chapter 54
Chapter 55
Chapter 56
Chapter 57
Chapter 58
Chapter 59
Chapter 60
Chapter 61
Chapter 62
Chapter 63
Chapter 64
Chapter 65
Chapter 66
Chapter 67
Chapter 68
Chapter 69
Chapter 70
Chapter 71
Chapter 72
Chapter 73
Chapter 74
Chapter 75
Chapter 76
Chapter 77
About the Authors
CAST OF CHARACTERS
CHINA 1808
ZI JUN CHU—Owner of a three-masted junk plying trade routes in the East China Sea
CAPTAIN OF JUN’S SHIP
CHING SHIH—Pirate queen whose fleet dominated the South China Sea in the early part of the nineteenth century
PRESENT DAY
Water Rats (Pirate Group)
LUCAS TENG (TENG KUNG-LU)—Leader of the band of thieves calling themselves the Water Rats
VINCENT UHR—Second in command of the Water Rats
CALLUM ZHEN—Member of the Water Rats
Hong Kong
KINNARD EMMERSON—British expatriate and leader of a Hong Kong–based criminal organization
GUĀNCHÁ (THE WATCHER)—Emmerson’s lieutenant and most trusted assassin
YAN-LI—Nautical historian and former dive specialist for the PRN, her academic discipline underwater excavation
DEGRA—One of the leaders of CIPHER, a notorious cybercrime organization based in China
FERRET—One of the hackers working for CIPHER
National Underwater and Marine Agency (NUMA)
KURT AUSTIN—Director of Special Projects, salvage expert and boating enthusiast
JOE ZAVALA—Kurt’s assistant and best friend, helicopter pilot and mechanical genius
RUDI GUNN—Deputy Director of NUMA, graduate of the Naval Academy, runs most of the day-to-day operations at NUMA
HIRAM YAEGER—NUMA’s Director of Information Technology, expert in the design and function of the most advanced computers
PAUL TROUT—NUMA’s chief geologist, graduate of Scripps Institute
GAMAY TROUT—NUMA’s leading marine biologist, also graduated from Scripps
WINTERBURN—Executive officer of the NUMA yacht Sapphire
STRATTON—NUMA engineer specializing in the operation of sub-surface drones
Naha, Okinawa—U.S. Navy Weather Station
LIEUTENANT CALLIE BAKER—Sonar specialist working at the Naha Weather Station
LIEUTENANT COMMANDER AARON STEWART—Senior officer at Naha Station
Washington, D.C.
ANNA BIEL—Presidential adviser and director of the National Security Agency
ELLIOT HARNER—Deputy director of the CIA
REAR ADMIRAL MARCUS WAGNER—Head of Naval Intelligence for the Western Pacific
ARTHUR HICKS—U.S. Cyber Command
Taiwan R.O.C.
STEVEN WU—CIA liaison officer in Taipei
Hydro-Com Corporation
SUNIL PRADI—Founder and CEO of Hydro-Com Corporation
SABRINA LANG—Chief of Digital Security at Hydro-Com Corporation
PROLOGUE
THE CRIMSON FLAG
SOUTH CHINA SEA
SEPTEMBER 1808
Jun Chu stood on the deck of a three-masted junk given the auspicious name Silken Dragon. The ship was a feast for the eyes, with an emerald green hull, golden adornments and sails dyed a resplendent blood orange hue.
The ship sat at anchor in a tranquil bay. Clear aquamarine water lay beneath the hull, while a steep mountain peak rose from an island beyond.
The peak had given them some morning shade. But the sun was now high above and the temperature had soared. If not for the breeze blowing in from the west, the heat would have been unbearable. As it was, an odd sulfur-like smell could be detected. The source of the aroma baffled Jun, but he had bigger issues to worry about.
He pulled a brass telescope from a leather case. The beautiful instrument was polished and gleaming. Engraved characters on the casing reminded him that it had been given as a gift, from the powerful pirate queen Ching Shih.
The captain of the vessel moved up next to him. “What do you see?”
Jun gazed through the spyglass. His face turned grim. “It seems our escape from Macau did not go unnoticed. Three ships are approaching.”
“This is a trade route,” the captain reminded him. “Many vessels ply these waters. Do not assume danger where there is only the company of other travelers.”
“I assume nothing,” Jun said. “Take the spyglass. You’ll see that I’m not wary without reason. Those ships fly the red banner of Madam Ching. They’re hunters sent to slay us or bring us to Macau for punishments that I choose not to imagine.”
Jun focused on the nearest of the approaching ships. It was a larger vessel than the Dragon. Four sails to his three and a topmast adorned with banners red as blood.
The other ships in the squadron were farther back, too far to see any details, but they tracked the same heading.
The captain offered a hopeful suggestion. “It’s said Madam Ching will spare a ship’s crew if the master surrenders their cargo without a fight.”
Jun lowered the telescope. Ching Shih had indeed created a code of honor among her pirates, but such considerations would not be extended to Jun. “Her code will not apply to us. We are thieves and traitors, not honorable adversaries.”
There was no need to say more. The treasure in their hold had been pirated by Madam Ching’s ships once already, but instead of being turned in to the collective and disbursed fairly, a rogue captain of hers had set much of it aside. He’d sold it to Jun, assuring him the truth had been hidden.
“Your friend must have been caught short,” the captain said.
Jun shivered at the man’s fate. “To withhold captured plunder is punishable by death,” he said. “To steal it outright . . . Beheading would be the best fate such a man could hope for. No doubt he’s been killed. Though not soon enough to keep him from speaking our names.”
“We cannot outrun them,” the captain said. “Each of her ships are larger and faster.”
“Then we must fight,” Jun said. “We have cannonades we bought from the East India Company. We have crossbows and harquebuses.”
“We’ll be outnumbered five to one.”
“They cannot come all at once,” Jun said. “And her large ships will not be able to cross the reef. If we remain here, they will have to come in small boats, hoping to climb aboard using ladders and grappling hooks. In my experience, grenadoes and flaming arrows are quite effective at such a range.”
The captain’s face began to soften. “You hope to bleed them one small group at a time.”
Jun nodded. It was truly their only hope. “And when they’ve bled enough, they’ll depart from us and return to Macau, where they’ll tell Madam Ching we burned the ship rather than surrender and face death.”
The captain’s face was inscrutable. He took the spyglass back, gazing at the red-flagged ships as they turned toward the bay. “You have a silken tongue, Master Jun. You almost make me believe we might survive.”
* * *
—
As the men aboard the Dragon steeled themselves for battle, Ching Shih’s fleet approached the reef and pulled back. Small boats were called for and the better part of each ship’s complement prepared to sail forth.
Each of Jun’s predictions had so far proved accurate, all except one. There was no condition under which the small fleet would return to Macau with a false story to tell their master, since Madam Ching was aboard the largest of the ships and her fury had been stoked like a bonfire.
Zheng Yi Sao, or Ching Shih as she was known, walked the deck before her men. An average-sized woman with broad shoulders and piercing eyes, her face remained as beautiful as it had been when she’d been taken by Lord Cheng as a wife.
Together they’d built a dynasty, ultimately controlling the towns and waters around Macau with iron fists. After Cheng’s death, Ching Shih had assumed full control, building the empire ever larger, making allies out of conquered people, creating order out of chaos.
A large portion of that order stemmed from the code she’d put forth. It required fair treatment of crews, captives and concubines. It punished officers who mistreated their men. It demanded swift and ruthless retribution upon anyone who betrayed the collective good of the red-bannered fleet.
With these rules in place, she became the de facto governor of a sprawling region and the most feared and therefore respected pirate lord in all of Asia. One did not steal from her and live to tell the story.
Striding resplendently across the deck in a shimmering gown of lilac and gray, she commanded the full attention of every man on board. A red scarf adorned her neck, a black three-pointed hat rested on her head. Not a sound emanated from the hundred men standing before her as she climbed the steps to address them.
“These traitors have not stolen from me,” she said, “they have stolen from you.” She allowed that to sink in and then asked them a question. “What is the law of the plunder?”
They replied in unison. “What is taken must be presented. It must be shared by all.”
Her pride grew as they spoke. “And what is the punishment for stealing?”
“Flogging and death.”
She was pleased. Her fleet was disciplined. Her men, a well-trained army. Knowing they would suffer heavy losses, she made a promise. “All who go forth shall receive a double share. All who are wounded shall receive triple. All who die today will have their family’s prosperity secured for the next generation.”
